Cakgo grating



April 20, 1954 J. DAVIE CARGO GRATING Filed Jan. 31, 1951 James Davie IN VEN TOR.

Patented Apr. 20, 1954 UNITED STATES OFFICE at Claims. 1

The present invention relates to cargo gratings or deck racks for the support of cargoes or ladings within the holds or storage compartments of ships, railway cars, trucks and the like.

In the transportation of many commodities, particularly those of a perishable nature, it is usually desirable that the cargo or lading be maintained while in transit Within a predeter mined range of temperature, thus necessitating the use of suitable cooling means in hot weather and adequate heating means during cold weather. Those perishable commodities which have been permitted to get too cold or to become frozen, as well as those which have been permitted to become too warm,- do not bring as high a market value due to the shortening of their storage life, and this frequently results in waste and spoilage.

The present invention relates to an improved cargo grating or floor rack for the support of the cargo or lading within such refrigerated or ventilated compartments or holds. The improved grating is arranged in such manner that the lading is supported in the compartment in a spaced r lationship above the floor or deck of the compartment in order that air, after it has been cooled by a refrigerant, or warmed by a heater, may be circulated freely under the cargo and above the floor, and upwardly through the rack or grating to thereby pass through and around the cargo.

Heretofore, it has been the general practice to provide gratings or racks constructed from spaced apart wooden slats supported by wooden stringers to which they are nailed or spiked or otherwise fastened, to maintain their spaced relationship. Such prior gratings or racks have proven objectionable due to the labor required in spiking them together and their susceptibility to splitting and splintering under rough handling and service. These prior constructions have also proven unsatisfactory because they frequently become unsanitary in that they absorb and retain odors, they become saturated with water and become heavy due to contact of the wood stringers with wet floors and melting ice, and are relatively expensive to maintain. It has also been proposed to utilize gratings having metallic bearers or stringers, but these prior constructions have been complicated, costly and otherwise unsatisfactory.

It is, accordingly, a major object of the present invention to provide an improved floor rack or cargo grating construction which is simple and economical to construct and which is very light in weight for its relatively great strength. A further object of the present invention is to provide a rack or grating construction which utilizes an improved form of metallic bearer or stringer construction upon which wooden slats are readily attached, without the necessity of nailing or spiking, in a predetermined spaced apart relationship for the free passage of circulating air therebetween. It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a rack or grating which contacts the floor or deck in a minimum number of bearing points of limited area to offer reduced resistance to the circulation of conditioned air and cleaning solutions. It is a corollary objective to provide a rack or grating construction which is more sanitary than most prior constructions and which readily lends itself to flushing or cleaning of the floor with a minimum obstruction to the flow of water across the floor. A further object resides in the provision of a rack or grating which is more economical to maintain, in which the wooden slats are not subjected to splitting and splintering and provide a substantially smooth surface for walking upon, rolling wheeled trucks thereover, and the support of lading or cargo items thereupon. The present invention is an improvement upon the construction disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 191,181 filed October 20th, 1950, covering Cargo Grating.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention reside in its improved construction, the details, form and manner of attachment of its component elements, and these objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the present description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a cargo grating unit embodying the improved construction;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View of the cargo grating construction of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the construction shown in Fig. 2 as taken along the lines 33 thereof;

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a modified form of construction;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same as taken along the lines 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is an end view of the all metal bearer shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, showing a preferred form of the improved construction, the numeral it represents a cargo grating or floor rack assembly comprising a plurality of transversely extending bearers or stringers i2 by which they are also supported at a predetermined spacing above the floor. Each of the bearers or stringers i2 is comprised of a deformed metallic strip or bar it to the upper flattened surfaces of which a plurality of spaced metallic clincher elements it are welded or otherwise attached as at the welds it. The bearers it have rounded bottoms it which bear upon the floor or deck. The clinchers it are preferably U-shaped having a flattened bottom portion it with its sides flared slightly outwardly and upwardly, terminating in the inwardly directed clincher points FL The not contact or engage the clinchers is.

ends of the bar 12 are preferably returned downwardly as at 59 for abutting against the bearer strips of the adjacent grating panels H3, or for spacing the grating panel away from adjacent walls, and preventing passing objects from being caught or damaged by an otherwise straight end. The side legs of the U-shaped bottom portions 53 of the bearers l2 diverge upwardly toward their upper flattened portions it which are preferably spaced such that they are disposed beneath the clincher elements [6 and beneath the edges of the wooden slats H. The lower portion [3 of the U-shaped legs of the bearer I2 is preferably rounded to provide a relatively small area which bears upon the floor or deck for the support of the grating and the cargo item or lading which is supported thereby.

The bearer or stringer I2 is provided as a prefabricated assembly or unit with the attached clincher elements is spaced to readily receive the wooden slats II, which may be two by fours or other wood pieces finished to predetermined dimensions. In assembling the grating, a plurality of bearer units are spaced apart longitudinally a predetermined distance and the wooden slats are pressed downwardly between each pair of clincher prongs It such that the bottom faces of the slats bear upon the flat bottom surface l5 of each clincher unit. With the slats ii in their predetermined positions with a weight, such as that of the assembler, preferably carried thereon such that they remain in contact with the bottom 15, the assembler then spreads the upper adjacent pointed top portions ii of each clincher 45, as with a wedge or chisel, spreading the pointed ends thereof which become indented or pressed into the adjacent edges of the slats H as at Ila. This bending or slight separating operation of the clinchers l6 firmly secures the slats l! in their properly spaced relationship and in contact with the bottom bar 15, the tops of the clinchers H being disposed beneath the plane of the upper faces of the slats I i such that objects supported upon or rolled over the slats do When all of the clinchers have been so bent or deformed, the slats l I are allflrmly secured to the bearers or stringers 52 without the necessity of any nailing or spiking and the grating 50 becomes a firmly secured integral unit of relatively light weight and great strength and the wooden slats are not damaged or weakened by nailing or spiking, as heretofore.

The construction of the grating 26 shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 difiers essentially from the fore going in that the support elements of the metal bearer assembly 22, also of single continuous elements of generally similar conformation as the rounded bottoms E3 of the form shown in Fig. 2, have rounded shouldered tops 26. The clincher elements 25 are preferably also of metal welded or attached to the upper face of the deformed bottom bar 22 as by the welds 25 and have upstanding rounded bulbous tops 2i for clinching engagement with the edges of the adjacent wooden slats Zlto which they are secured by deforming the crimped clincher elements 2? by striking with a hammer or'the like as at Zia, imbedding its edges into the slats. The support element 23 is formed from a single continuous piece, being of a corrugated conformation with its upper rounded shoulder portions 2 3 preferably welded or otherwise attached to the bottom corners'of the flattened clincher bar 25 as by the welds 28 beneath the sides of the clincher elements 26 and the adjacent edges of the slats 2|. The support elements 23 provide similar rounded bearing portions upon the floor or deck as in the construction of Fig. 2, and the ends of the clincher bars 25 are similarly bent downwardly as at 29 to protect the ends of the bearers and to space the grating assemblies from each other or from adjacent walls or bulkheads.

This provides a stringer or bearer assembly of high strength-to-weiglit ratio which gives adequate support for the wooden slats thereby completing the grating construction for the load which it supports. It bears upon the floor or deck with a minimum area, offering little obstruction to circulation or washing operations, and in installations where the loads to be supported are relatively high and the nature of the floor or deck may require, the rounded bottom portions in engagement with the floor provide adequate bearing areas for proper load distribution. Other forms and modifications of the improved cargo grating, both with respect to its general arrangement and the details of its respective parts, will become apparent to those skilled in the art, and are intended to come within the scope and spirit of the present invention as more particularly set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A grating for the support'of a cargo item at a predetermined spacing above a supporting surface comprising a pair of spaced metallic stringer members having a plurality of spaced rounded bottoms and a plurality of spreadable slat-engaging retaining portions supported from 1 flattened top portions of said stringer members,

and a plurality of wooden slats supported upon said stringer assembly and retained by said spreadable pointed slat-engaging retaining portions.

2. A grating for the support of a cargo item at a predetermined spacing above a supporting surface comprising a pair of spaced metallic stringer assemblies having a plurality of spaced pointed retaining portions, each said stringer assembly being longitudinally corrugated with fiat top portions, and a plurality of spaced wooden slats supported upon the flat top portions of said stringer assembly, the said slats retained by the bent clamping engagement of said pointed retaining portions. a

3. A metallic stringer member for the attached support of a plurality of laterally spaced slats forming a grating assembly, comprising a plurality of flattened top leg elements having a plurality of rounded bottom portions for the spaced support of the grating assembly from a floor surface, and a plurality of spreadable pointed attaching elements attached to the flattened upper faces of said leg elements for attaching said slats to the tops of said leg elements.

i. A metallic stringer assembly for the attached support of a plurality of laterally spaced slats forming a grating assembly, said stringer member having a floor-engaging portion formed from a strip of metal having a plurality of spaced corrugations the bottoms of which are arranged to rest upon a floor, the'tops of said corrugations having flattened intermediate portions, a plurality of slat-receiving channels, having upwardly extending legs with inwardly bendable tops arranged to engage a slat therebetween, each said channel spanning and supported by a pair of the said flattened top portions of said corrugations.

No references cited. 

